The Story of a Lifetime
by Dudez
Summary: Tom Benson thought he was covering a normal news item. He didn't know, however, that he was about to enter the horror that is Raccoon City. He didn't know that he would be covering the story of a lifetime. Rating may change.
1. Enter The Survival Horror

Boring stupid disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil. Neither do you. (Suckers)  
  
Author's Note: Hello readers. This is my first submission to so please don't flame me if it sucks.  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The Story of a Lifetime 11:26PM September 23rd,1998 One Hour Away From Raccoon City Thomas Benson drove along, hardly able to keep his eyes open. "Why did I take this job?" he muttered to himself absently. Crappy hours, boss hated him, no time for any social life, bad pay.  
The list went on and on. He was a reporter for the Globe and Mail. His boss had gotten wind that something big was happening in Raccoon City, Pennsylvania. He didn't know what, of course, but Tom was sent in to try to find out what was going on.   
  
"I've got to get some sleep,"Tom said to himself. He was still an hour away from the city. After driving for another 10 minutes he finally came upon a motel. After checking in he collapsed into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.  
  
4:13AM September 24th, 1998 Sleep Easy Motel  
  
A crash and thump from downstairs woke Tom. "What the hell?" he groaned, stumbling out of bed.  
A scream echoed up from the office, followed by groaning and, to round everything out, a shotgun blast. "Damn it!" he muttered. Tom grabbed the bowie knife he always kept with him off the headboard of his bed and started towards the office. The first thing he noticed was the broken window. It looked like someone had jumped through it. He then heard chewing. "Aw crap," he said, noticing a pool of blood seeping out from under the door. "I know your name and the police are on their way!" he bluffed.  
"I also have a gun!" he added. There was a pause in the chewing and a slow shuffling sound developed.  
  
Tom gathered all of his courage and jumped into the room. He took one look at the sight inside and wished he hadn't. The motel manager was lying on the ground with his stomach torn apart. His intestines were strewn all over the floor. Tom then looked at the assailant. It was almost inhuman It had once been a man in his early 20's. He was almost unrecognisable now. It looked like he had been in some sort of horrible car accident. His left arm was bent at an odd angle and the right one had what looked like a dog bite of some sort on it. Part of his stomach had been blown away by a shotgun blast. There was blood dripping down his chin. The thing, whatever it was, was coming straight for him.  
  
"Whoa buddy," Tom said as he pulled the knife out, "Stay where you are." The guy kept advancing.  
"Stay there!" Tom said again loudly. Suddenly, the man lunged toward him, moaning. A single gunshot rang out and the man dropped dead, a single hole in his head. Tom looked up and saw a man in a State Trooper's uniform standing at the door, gun raised. "Are you alright sir?" the officer asked, " Someone upstairs called us after they heard shots." "Yes,I'm fine," Tom gasped, still staring at the freak of nature lying at his feet.  
  
7:29AM September 24th, 1998 Just Outside The City  
  
"What the hell?" Tom said to himself as he looked ahead. He had left the motel about an hour before after giving a statement to the police. Now up ahead there seemed to be a barricade of some sort. Tom pulled up and rolled down the window. Some guy in a gas mask walked up to the window. "Hello there,"  
Tom said, "Um, could I get through here." "I'm sorry sir," the man replied, "This is a quarantine zone."  
"Quarantine?" Tom said in disbelief, "Why?" "Might I ask who you are?" the man countered. "I am Thomas Benson. I'm with the Globe and Mail," Tom replied, holding up his reporter's ID. The soldier looked at the ID and said, "The Black Plague has infected the city. I am afraid I can't allow you in." Tom opened his mouth to argue but saw that he was wasting his breath. He turned around and drove away.  
  
Suddenly, he remembered something that he had read once. Something about a path that lead through Raccoon Forest into the city. He figured that he may as well give it a shot and started looking.  
  
8:41AM September 24th, 1998 Raccoon Forest  
  
"God dammit!" Tom yelled to nobody in particular. He had found the path about 20 minutes ago and was driving along it. Unfortunately, the path was now blocked by a fallen tree. "Aw well," he reasoned, "I can't be that far away from the city." He climbed out of the car and shivered, not because it was cold as it wasn't, but because of the unearthly silence. There weren't even any birds chirping. He shut off the engine and and started taking supplies. He grabbed his knife, a bottle of Tylenol, a bottle of Gatorade, some AA batteries, some duct tape, a small flashlight, his lighter, his cellphone and a backpack to carry it in. He went to the trunk and grabbed his camera, some extra film, a few road flares, some lighter fluid, and a small hand saw.  
  
He locked his car and started walking down the path. He walked for about 15 minutes before he noticed something lying by the side of the path. He took a close look and realized it was a person... minus a head.  
"Oh my god," he said in disbelief. The body was wearing hunter's clothes so he figured he was out hunting when he died. Then he noticed the rifle. It was a Heckler & Koch HK630 (this he knew from a report on firearms he did for the paper a few years back) and it still had 8 of the 10 bullets in it. He checked the body and found 20 more rounds of .30 USC ammo on it. Figuring that he was wandering through an unfamiliar forest, he decided to take it for protection. He also marked the location of the body in his head so he could alert the police in Raccoon.  
  
He continued walking. Tom then noticed a small structure up ahead of him. Above the door the words "Ranger's Station" were written. The thing he paid most attention to, however, was the jeep in the driveway. "Thank god," Tom said in relief. He walked into the building and saw a horrible sight. There was blood everywhere and in the middle of the blood, was the ranger. "Holy crap," Tom said, "Are you alright?" The ranger looked up and Tom was repulsed by the sight. The ranger's face was decomposing! The ranger started towards him. Tom raised the rifle and fired a shot into the thing's chest. It was knocked back a bit but didn't stop. Tom fired another shot.  
It hit the thing in the leg. It stumbled, fell, and started crawling towards him. "What's this guy on?" Tom said in disbelief. He then remembered what the police officer had done at the motel. Tom aimed carefully and fired one shot through it's head. It stopped moving. Tom dropped the rifle and started rubbing his arms. That thing had more recoil than he had expected. Tom finally reached over and grabbed the jeep keys off of the desk. He then picked up the rifle and got in the jeep. After turning it on he stopped and asked himself, "What is wrong with this place?" 


	2. Chaos in Raccoon City

Chapter 2 is here. Many thanks to Javiology for being my first ever reviewer on ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
9:15AM September 24th, 1998 The Edge of Raccoon City  
  
The first buildings started to appear just as Tom started to doubt the black plague was behind all this. The first thing that he noticed was the lack of people. For a quarter after nine on a Thursday morning there was absolutely nobody around. As he went further into the city he began to notice an abundance of smashed cars and some fires. "What is going on?" he asked himself.  
  
Suddenly, a girl darted in front of the jeep. He slammed on the brakes and managed to stop just short of her. He jumped out to see if she was alright. She looked up and he got his first good look at her.  
She was short and delicate looking. She was wearing a sailor's suit, a backpack, and an odd looking pendant around her neck. "Hello there," Tom said to her,"What's your name?" "My name is Sherry Birkin," she said shyly. "Do you need a ride?" Tom asked her. "I guess so," she said. She climbed into the jeep and they continued driving.  
  
"So where are you headed?" he asked, "I'm Tom by the way." "The police department," she replied. "Really," he stated,"Do your parents work there?" "No," she replied, "My mom told me to go there because the streets are going to be a dangerous place soon." "Why is that?" he asked, suddenly intrigued. "I dunno. That's just what she said." Suddenly there was a huge thump and something went flying over the hood of the car. "Damn!" Tom screamed as he stopped the car, "What'd I hit!?"  
  
He jumped out and, as an afterthought, grabbed the rifle. "God damn it..." he muttered as he saw the human form lying on the road. The person on the ground started moving. "Oh thank god," he said. He walked up. "Are you okay?" he asked the person. The person looked up at him and he screamed. She looked like the ranger. He fired two shots into her head. That was when he heard the moans. People, no wait, zombies started pouring out of the alley to his left. He screamed and ran back to the jeep. He grabbed his camera and took a photo of the advancing zombies. As it was a self developing camera, it spit the picture out a second later. He leapt into the jeep and drove like hell.  
  
After driving for a minute or two he reached over and wrote on the back of the photo "The zombies are attacking". "Tom!" Sherry yelled, "I think that lady is alive!" He looked up and saw a woman waving them down. He pulled over and motioned for her to climb in. She crawled into the back and introductions were made. The girl was named Tina Van Allsworth. She told them that she worked at the power station on Elm Street. After the crisis, she abandoned her post and tried to escape. She was bitten on the leg while trying to get out.  
  
Tom took one look at the bite, which was bleeding and going sort of greenish, and said, "I'm getting you to a hospital." He hung a right and headed for the hospital. As he was driving he noticed more living people hanging around, mostly police officers. He finally got to the hospital and helped Tina inside. It was total chaos in the hospital. There were doctors running around everywhere, stuff scattered all over the foyer, etc. They ran to the check in desk and got Tina checked in. Tom then bid her a farewell and went back outside. Along the way he ran into some guy who called himself the park manager. Tom handed him the picture of the zombies. "Put it in your office as a souveneir," Tom told him as he ran off. He then climbed into the jeep and drove off, hoping that the hospital could hold out.  
  
9:56AM September 24th, 1998 Raccoon City Police Department  
  
"Finally," Tom muttered as he was cleared to pull into the RPD parking lot. He had been waiting for ten minutes to enter the underground parking garage. He finally pulled in and shut off the engine. He grabbed the and climbed out. Sherry jumped out too and ran out of the garage. Tom shrugged and walked out as well. The hall was in turmoil and people were scrambling for weapons at the weapons storage room. Police officers were handing out weapons and ammo. He realised that he wouldn't get much here andpulled an officer aside. "Are there any gunshops in the area?" Tom asked. "Yeah," the officer responded, "Kendo's Gunshop down on Barton Avenue may have something left." Tom thanked him and set off.  
  
10:12AM September 24th, 1998 Kendo's Gunshop  
  
Tom shoved his way through the crowds of people in the small shop. He had left the jeep at the station and walked to the shop. Obviously, this area wasn't infected as much as the other areas of town. "Here," Kendo said,  
handing him a revolver, "It's a Taurus RT-906. It uses 9x19mm rounds, holds 6 shots, and is very concealable. Take these too." Kendo handed him two packs of 9mm rounds. Each one held 30 rounds. Tom thanked him and left.  
That was when the explosion went off. 


	3. Of Explosions and Meetings

Here is Chapter 3.  
  
10:14AM September 24th, 1998 Outside Kendo's gunshop  
  
"What the hell was that?" Kendo yelled. "How should I know?" Tom yelled at him. The two of them ran out of the store and down the street. At the end of the road there were SWAT officers tossing hand grenades at a crowd of zombies. "Oh," Kendo said. Suddenly, one of the officers screamed. In a split second, Tom saw a grenade land next to a nearby jerry can of gasoline. Then there was an explosion and black.  
  
1:08PM September 24th, 1998 Raccoon City Police Department  
  
Tom groaned and opened his eyes. He struggled to remember what happened. A... grenade... and... gas... boom... "Hello there," someone said. He snapped his head to the right and saw a man standing next to him. He had brown hair, was around five and a half feet tall, and was wearing a yellow STARS vest. "Who are you?" Tom asked. "I'm Brad Vickers," the man said, "You may recognise me as-" "Chickenheart Vickers, former STARS Alpha team pilot," Tom finished. "Yes, and I would appreciate you not calling me Chickenheart," he replied. "Whatever," Tom muttered to him, "I thought the STARS flew the coop last month." "Most did," Brad told him, "Chris went to New York, Barry went to Canada, and Rebecca was MIA until a week ago when she turned up in California living with some soldier who was wanted for 23 murders. Billy something his name was. Anyway, Jill and I are the only STARS left in Raccoon, although Rebecca said Billy and her would try to get here... aw crap! She doesn't know about the crisis!" Brad turned around and ran out of the room. Tom took the time to look around. He had been lying on the table in some sort of interrogation room. His guns, ammo, and supplieswere sitting on the floor next to him. He grabbed the stuff and walked out into the hallway. There were a bunch of people walking down the hall. "Where are you going?"  
he asked them. "The cops have ordered everyone to the foyer for a meeting," one of them said. Tom nodded and headed for the hall.  
  
1:15PM September 24th, 1998 RPD Main Hall  
  
Tom walked into the hall and took a seat in one of the chairs that had been set up. A few minutes after he sat down a police officer walked up to the front of the room. "Hello everyone," the officer said, "My name is Marvin Branagh and I am here to explain the security measures that we are taking to keep you alive. First of all, we ask for your cooperation as we only have about 50 officers remaining on the force and we can't keep tabs on everything. Now, we have designated saferooms that you can report to in case of an attack on the precinct." "They include: the first floor records room, the breakroom, the evidence room, the storage room across from the interrogation rooms, and the STARS room.Should an attack on the precinct occur you should report to one of these rooms as fast as possible.Next, we have implemented some extra security measures. First, the way to the cells and kennel have been blocked off. Next, as there is next to nothing left in the weapons storage it has been locked up. As well, the morgue has been locked, the way to the basement has been locked, the electronic locks in the main hall here are to be initiated, and the door leading from the stairwell to the corridor outside the library is to be boarded up. In addition, the cabin out back has been locked and beacons have been set up on the helicopter pad." "As for outside the station, there have been barricades set up every several blocks. Each is manned by one police officer and a few volunteers. Any more volunteers would be greatly appriciated. Also, only the north-west and far eastern sections of town are completely infested with zombies so stay out of them. That will be all. Anybody who would like to help man a barricade please come to the front desk."  
As the officer stopped talking, Tom knew what he had to do. He walked up to the front desk and signed up to help man a barricade. It was all he could do to help keep the city from falling. And he was going to. 


	4. Barricade

Okay, here is Chapter 4. Many thanks to E-Z B for his review. Warning: Silent Hill and LOTR references within.  
  
2:21PM September 24th, 1998 Barricade #18  
  
There was not much activity going on when Tom got to the barricade he was assigned to. As a matter of fact, there wasn't even a barricade. There was a single police van sitting in the middle of the intersection and a few people lying around near it. "Is this barricade number 18?" Tom asked. "Yeah," one of the guys said, "I suppose you are Tom Benson, correct?" "Yes," Tom replied.  
  
Suddenly, the cop stood up. "Okay," he said, "Now that you are here introductions must be made.  
I am David Ford." Another man carrying a revolver came forward. "I'm Michael Kraufman. I'm a doctor."  
Some brown haired guy came up to him, "I'm Larry Mason. I'm a novelist." The last person, an African American woman, came forward, "I am Anne Wilkins and I'm hoping to find my husband out here. He's a security guard at the university. Have you seen him?" A resounding "No" was her reply.  
  
"Alright," David said, "We have some stuff to help us with building in the van, but we will need to find other barricade forming stuff around." He dragged out the supplies they had. There were 5 walkie talkies, a metal hole puncher, metal files, screwdrivers, wrenches, 5 riot vests, 5 riot helmets, 5 riot shields with kickstands, a first aid kit, binoculars, and 4 nightsticks. David passed out the radios, the vests, the helmets, the shields, and the nightsticks. They then began working.  
  
3:57PM September 24th, 1998 Barricade #18  
  
The barricade was finally finished. On each side of the intersection there were cars, furniture, in one case, the police van, the riot shields, and various other crap stacked everywhere. Tom had taken up a position on the roof of a towncar stacked on top of a Ford Durango on the north side of the intersection.  
They had been interrupted by zombies a few times but there were no casualties thus far.  
  
A SWAT van came driving up from the east. Some guys holding a pot of something climbed out of the back. "Soup anyone?" one asked. Everyone got down as David drove the police van out of the way to allow them access to the inner area of the barricade. They had been using the van as a gate as it is too tall for zombies to climb over and could be driven out of the way to allow people access. The people passed out mugs of soup,  
sandwiches, and bottles of water.  
  
The sharp bark of a hangun interrupted their dinner. They looked up and saw Michael aiming his gun down the barricade. He then pulled out a notebook and marked down a tick on the first page. Tom smiled at the idea that Larry had thought up. The idea was that they would put a tick in their notebooks for every kill they had. Then after the crisis was over, the person with the least ticks had to buy everyone else dinner.  
  
Suddenly, a scream erupted from further north. A man came running around the corner. Before he could say a thing something leapt out and pinned him to the ground. The thing was 6 feet tall and hunched over. It's left arm was a lot bigger than the right and it's left hand was webbed and clawed while it's right had a tentacle of some sort on it. It had a long neck with a bird like head.  
  
It flipped the man over and jammed the tentacle into his mouth and down his throat. It withdrew the tentacle and the man ran over to the barricade. He was helped over and then they focused their attention on the monster.  
It was walking towards them. "Fire!" David yelled. They all fired a volley at it. The shots peppered the monster.  
However, it hardly slowed down. They started randomly shooting at the monster. Suddenly, it jumped over the barricade.  
Out of the corner of his eye, Tom spotted several small cylinders lying around. Suddenly, he remembered the dinner servers giving something to David. His mind yelled at him: Flash Bang Grenades!  
  
Tom grabbed two of the six grenades and yelled at the monster: "Hey over here you mutated jackass!" The thing turned around and lumbered toward him. Tom leapt over the barricade and led him down the street. Then he pulled out the pins, covered his ears, and shut his eyes. There was a resounding boom and a flash of white light. Tom opened his eyes and found the mutant lying out cold in front of him. Tom then aimed up with his handgun and fired at a scaffold above him. The platform fell bringing down several more scaffolds. Several of them had bricks, cinderblocks, and insecticide on them. The whole thing collapsed on the monster. Hoping his hunch was right, Tom pulled out his lighter and put it to the insecticide. The pile of stuff burst into flame. The thing stood up, screaming in pain as it succumbed to the fire. Tom pulled out his notebook to count his kill. "That only counts as one you know," Larry muttered to him. Tom just smiled. 


	5. Burn in Hell

Here is Chapter 5. Thanks to Jano for his review.  
  
4:12PM September 24th, 1998 Barricade #18 "What's happening to him?" David yelled. "I don't know!" Mike yelled back. A few minutes before the man who they had saved began spasming and screaming in pain. Michael was trying to treat him. Suddenly, the man screamed once more as he was ripped in half and something crawled out of his chest.  
  
"What is that thing?" Tom yelled. "How am I supposed to know?" Mike replied. One shot rang out and whatever it was died. David lowered his handgun as the lifeless thing exploded, splattering greenish goop everywhere. "I am inclined to ask what just caused that explosion, but I won't," Larry said as he wiped the goop off of his face. "Good move," Tom replied.  
  
4:31PM September 24th, 1998 Barricade #18  
  
A low humming sound had developed off in the distance. "Sounds like a car," Larry muttered absently.  
Suddenly, a car came barreling around a corner just west of the barricade. The car spun to a stop in front of the barricade and four people jumped out, one carrying a baby. Your average all American family. A man,  
his wife, a son, a daughter, and the baby. The one thing that wasn't average was what was chasing them. Zombies. Probably a hundred of them. "Pass the kids up!" David yelled down. The man grabbed the baby and threw him up. He then grabbed the girl and passed her up. It was at that point that everyone realised that not all of them would get up before the zombies reached the barricade. They were passing the boy up as the man did something horrible. He pulled out a handgun and shot his son. He then leapt over the barricade and watched as his wife and son were devoured by the hordes of zombies. "You son of a bitch," Mike muttered.  
  
The man jumped down and walked up to his daughter and infant son. He picked up the baby and said, almost inaudibly, "You too." The others sprang into action, pointing their guns at him. "Put the baby down!" David yelled to him. "Screw you," the man muttered. He then put the gun to the baby's head and fired. Suddenly, he stumbled as his daughter jumped him. She was making a futile attempt at strangulation. " Get out of the way!" Larry yelled to her. She let go as Larry fired, catching the man right between the eyes. He fell, dead.  
  
Michael ran up to the body and checked it over he held up the gun and yelled, "Taurus PT-138. Small frame,  
built for concealed carry. Also found 32 .380 ACP rounds on him." Tom walked up and took the gun and the ammo.  
He then walked over to the girl, who was just sitting on the ground staring at her father's dead body. The handgun was very small so, if his dimensions were right... He handed it to her. She took it. It fit her hand perfectly. "Take it and hope you don't have to use it," he said to her. "Thanks," she said, "I'm Emily by the way." Tom nodded and walked away. He turned as he saw Larry and Anne looking at something. Tom climbed up and looked down. The mother and son were wandering around, zombified. "I hope he burns in hell," Anne said, referring to the man they had shot. "Amen," Tom muttered in response, shaking his head, wondering how one man could show such utter disregard for human life. 


End file.
